Saturday, July 2, 2011

Inspiration. Thinkingaboutit, we fly withthesprightly spirit intheword! A laArielinTheTempest, we all propose to findinspirationofftheground, flying aroundsomewhere. Topicsaboutinspiration i agree have to have some air inthem, some desire to be upthere. And there is no better wayofbeinginspiredthan starting inthewayoflovingoneself.

I do not know ifmanyAfrican men bleachtheirskinsbutit is commonwiththesisters. Whereasonecan understand a need for a changeofhairstyle, theskin is a rather sensitive and important organ to destroy! It is not deadcells!

I waswalkingwithmyfriendPLin Oslo. She is sobeautiful and ofebonycolor. Wewentinto a shopping mall. I noticedthatPLwasuncomfortable. I looked at her and I gotthe hint. Tryingonsome smart and expensivestuffwas an older lookingwoman (you never know about age thesedays) and shehadbleached her lovelyAfricanskin to somenonnaturalFanta like look. InsomecountriesinAfricasuchpeople are actuallycalled Fanta girls. Youcanalways tell thenaturalsocalled lighter or brownskinfromthisone. Shealsohadharshpencil lines for eyebrows. This type ofwoman has to have a longwig. I hadseen a totally blond onein Heathrow only last week. A sleekwomanhaditon. A little girl giftedwith more melaninwaslooking at her. I hopedshewas not askingwhereshecouldgetsuch a wig.

I thinkwe have to inspireourselves by lovingournaturalself. No need to fly. Just touch yourskin and love itsowncolor. I fearthe west did a lot of damage to ourpsyche and this is not goingaway.

Blackdolls

Ontheother hand, I wasso happy to see a father drawing his littleoneoncarrier. Next to thechubbycaucasian baby was a lovelyblackdoll. I lovedthat. Itwasinspiring. I believedthat baby would never think not to love anyone for reasonsofdarkness. I do hope thatthis person treats all peoplewell and withoutprejudice and not just loves dolls. As for shop keepers and sellers..stock more ofthese! Make them famous. We in Afrika for ages had only Caucasian dolls around. Often you find black ones at home now but they are most often made of fabric meaning big toy makers may not be fully into the idea. I feel we must try out best to give a whole people their self esteem back. I mean also in India where casts dominate and the darker one is apparently the less beautiful or important they are. We are simply equal. Skin is not a gauge even for beauty!

I think in that behaviour of hating one’s own skin many are to blame. Models are normally chosen even if African from the less dark Africans. I was shocked to hear that from Judy, an African -American. She said she felt small and black and all her lighter colored friends got the jobs. Shame. We made her feel small. In some countries you can live in a suburb depending on the shade of your skin. We shamed South Africa for apartheid, fought and won but we are guilty of not having moved as a world without colour bar! Two old words still applicable ! At home in Africa also many people praise their ‘brown’ child above the darker one in some cases. I know we are free to love our natural ‘blonds’ but not at the expense of hating who we are naturally. But fine, do what you like with your body and hair! You are free. Only remember that this is often based on despising oneself. I dislike it very much especially to see someone like that in Europe. I know that there even tablets for it. I know many famous people did this and that to self.. but how can I inspire your spirit if you hate your body? It is hard. We see these as very separate but they are deeply connected no doubt!

In my house and stories, I have lovely black dolls. I am not afraid to quote from my work because this is genuine. Of course am not saying eliminate the caucasian one! Look@ Kenya, will you marry me? my latest novel published in May 2011.I have:

“I forgot to tell you. I made Pamoja long, long ago. She keeps all our history close to heart and always tells it to her younger brother Umoja and his friends. When she speaks, all the girls gather around her long pleated skirt that spreads out on the ground so that they can all sit down. She is the pillar that stands in a skirt but who the skirt honors in its round wide shape, like a home. She is a griot who does not only recite history; she tells people what signs of trouble to watch out for. She is not the only seer in the village. One of her stories is about how women see. She says that women have to sight many, many moons in different shapes and forms. The world does not understand them easily for women will say just what they see in the smallest crescent of the tiniest moon. Men like these women are rare. Now you have met many of us, but do not worry. We are easy people. You are one with us. Together, we are of many colors and we like how we look: tar, chocolate, café au lait, black, ripe mango color and tea au lait and even white like milk. Baba brought me a brand new Caucasian doll from Nairofii. I did not remember giving it a name.It could eat and drink and cry. We were all amazed. Maybe he got it as a gift, may be he bought her in a shop. Everyone in the family and some in the village talked about the doll and how wonderful she looked with long blonde eyelashes that fluttered over her beautiful blue eyes.Differences should fascinate.